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Friday, April 29, 2011

NFL Draft First Round Thoughts

With the first round of the NFL Draft come and go a lot of thoughts surround. Reaches and steals, surprise picks and shocking drops. Here are some thoughts from the first round of the 2011 NFL Draft.

Watching Cam and Cecil Newton before the draft it was easy to see how Cecil would have been the one asking for money. He has a very take charge nature about him that can be a benefit and a hindrance. The perfect example being when Cecil said "We worked hard to get here."

I've already covered why I think Newton to the Panthers was foolish. Does he have the chance to succeed? Sure. He's a hard worker. Should he falter his ego would not be hurt. He can over come little bounces and upsets.

Nick Fairley and Ndomokong Suh means don't even bother running on the Detroit Lions for the next ten plus years.

The Vikings reached, hard, for Christian Ponder. He was at best a late first round pick and that's at the VERY best.

How shocked am I that Da'Quan Bowers didn't get taken AT ALL in the first round? Extremely. How shocked will I be when he falls into the Patriots hands as the first pick in the second round? Not a bit.

Glad Jimmy Smith dressed up for the Draft. I'm sure it was his very best Scarface II shirt that he wore.

The Kansas City Chiefs taking Jon Baldwin in the first round was foolish. He would have been available in the second round, easily. He has great hands and a solid vertical but is slow for a big man and has the personality of a top flight wide receiver which doesn't fit his talent.

I wonder if AJ Green and Carlos Dunlap have any hard feelings. As I previously stated, both grew up in Summerville, SC but went to rival high schools. They'll now play on the same team: the Cincinnati Bengals.

I know Bill Belichick's plan and understand it. He's executed it before quite well. This time though... he gets an offensive lineman to put pressure on a UFA in Matt Light while completely ignoring his need for defense. Just seems... out of character.

The Titans got a quarterback. Good for them. Why Jake Locker, though?

Mike Pouncey was only taken as high as he was due to the performance of his brother Muarkice with the Steelers in his rookie season. Call it the Eric/Jordan Staal Effect (learn hockey and you'll laugh).

At 26 Danny Watkins was taken in the first round of the NFL Draft. I just turned 27. I still have a chance to be a 3rd rounder.

Bears picked Greg Camiri with their first round pick. He was immediately met with a lot of :) :) :) :) :) texts from Jay Cutler.

And finally, the most uplifting and touching part of the first round, Mark Ingram and the e-mail from his dad:

The second and third rounds begin at 6 today and the rest of the draft runs throughout the weekend.
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